DocumentCode :
1965277
Title :
Micro-power generators for ambient intelligence applications
Author :
Borca-Tasciuc, Diana-Andra ; Hella, Mona M. ; Kempitiya, Asantha
Author_Institution :
Mech., Aerosp. & Nucl. Eng. Dept, Rensselaer Polytech. Inst., Troy, NY, USA
fYear :
2010
fDate :
15-17 July 2010
Firstpage :
19
Lastpage :
24
Abstract :
Intelligent environments employ electronics unobtrusively integrated with the ambient to predict and to respond to the needs of people, enhancing many aspects of the everyday life. Wireless sensor network (WSN) are at the center of ambient intelligence applications. They consists of thousands of distributed sensing devices, that continually collect and transmit information about the surrounding environment. These sensors have to be energetically autonomous for long periods of time, which exclude battery use for providing power. However, emerging sensors have low power requirements, which can be met by scavenging ambient energy. Hence, research in micropower generation is gaining significant momentum. This paper starts with a review of main approaches for power generation at microscale with emphasize on kinetic to electric energy conversion. Kinetic or mechanical vibration energy conversion may be achieved employing piezoelectric, electromagnetic and electrostatic methods. The principle behind each method and most recent results reported in literature are reviewed. The second part of the paper discusses a new concept for mechanical vibration energy harvesting employing electrostatic transduction via comb-like variable capacitors, with a dielectric constant switching between air and liquid. This approach may lead to four orders of magnitude increase in energy conversion as compared with air-based variable capacitor converters of similar size.
Keywords :
electrostatic devices; energy harvesting; micromechanical devices; vibrations; wireless sensor networks; ambient intelligence applications; electromagnetic methods; electrostatic methods; electrostatic transduction; mechanical vibration energy conversion; mechanical vibration energy harvesting; micropower generators; piezoelectric methods; scavenging ambient energy; wireless sensor network; Decision support systems; electromagntic; electrostatic; energy scavenging; micro-power generators; piezoelectric; power harvtsing;
fLanguage :
English
Publisher :
ieee
Conference_Titel :
Soft Computing Applications (SOFA), 2010 4th International Workshop on
Conference_Location :
Arad
Print_ISBN :
978-1-4244-7985-6
Type :
conf
DOI :
10.1109/SOFA.2010.5565632
Filename :
5565632
Link To Document :
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